Last article tackled the illness of King Al-Saleh Ayyub at a time when Damietta was in the possession of the Franks, they were facing his army near Mansoura, where skirmishes and raids against them continued for months, during which he died. But Shajar al-Durr, the wife of King Al-Saleh Ayyub, soon concealed the news of his death, and she assumed responsibility for managing the country’s affairs, until his son, Turan Shah, came from Hisn Keyfa and succeeded him.
Shajar al-Durr is of Turkish origin – and others believe she was Armenian – she was one of the concubines of King Al-Saleh Ayyub, and in the course of time she began to enjoy great status with him, so he decided to emancipate her, then he married her and she gave birth to a son named Khalil. Shajar al-Durr concealed the news of King Al-Salih’s death- while confronting the Franks’ campaign that seized Damietta and began marching towards Mansoura- lest a spirit of despair would arise among the soldiers and negatively affect their morale as they confronted the Frankish war. She managed the affairs of the country for nearly three months, and Ibn Taghri says: “His wife, the mother of his son Khalil- Shajar Al-Durr- hid his death, fearing for the Muslims, and they pledged allegiance to his venerable son of the Sultanate during his absence, Shajar Al-Durr began to manage matters and conceal the death of the Sultan King Al-Saleh until Turan Shah came from Hisn Keyfa to Mansoura…”
The day Turan Shah entered Mansoura was a day of victory over the Franks. As a result of continued fighting for months, weakness began to spread among the ranks of the Franks due to the interruption of food supplies to them, in addition to the outbreak of an epidemic that led to the death of their horses. The Franks king decided to return to Damietta, crossing a great bridge they had built over the Nile and left it behind without removing it. As soon as the armies of King Al-Saleh learned, they crossed the bridge and attacked the Franks, killing and capturing a large number of them. The Franks took refuge in the village of Minyat Abi Abdullah (currently Mit al-Kholi Abdullah, the center of Faraskur, Dakahlia Governorate), but the armies of King Al-Saleh gained control of their fleet and armies, and they killed and captured some of them as well, until it was mentioned: “There were kings and kunds in captivity “Kund” is the Arabic word for the Franks “count”. The number of prisoners was estimated to be approximately twenty thousand humans, and about seven thousands were drowned and killed’. Later, the princes of Saleh Dynasty released the Frankish king, after killing King Turan Shah.
As for King Turan Shah, historian Shams ad-Din bin Qazawghli mentions: “We mentioned his coming to the Levant and his going to Egypt, and the crush (defeat) of the Franks occurred at his arrival, so the people were optimistic about his rise, but there appeared reasons from him that turned hearts away from him. So they agreed to kill him. He had a kind of light-headedness and foolishness… Then he detached himself from people more than his father did. When he was drunk, he would collect candles and hit their heads with a sword and cut them off, saying: This is what I will do to the Navy! meaning his father’s Mamluks… Khalil’s mother (Shajar al-Durr), the wife of his father, King al-Saleh, went to Jerusalem when Turan Shah arrived in Cairo. He sent threats to her and demanded money and jewels from her. She was afraid of him, so she wrote seeking the help of Bahri Mamluks, hence, everyone agreed to kill him.” Some of his father’s Bahri Mamluks managed to kill him in the most horrific ways, then they cut him into pieces and he remained unburied for three days until the Caliph’s messenger interceded for him! After killing Turan Shah, the Mamluks asked the king of the Franks for money to release him from captivity, so he gave them the money and set off from Egypt. Turan Shah was not fit to rule, as it was mentioned about him: “We used to say to his father, King Al-Saleh Ayyub: ‘Why don’t you bring him here?! He would say: ‘Forget about this’ So we pressed him one day, and he said: ‘If I brought him here, I would kill him!’”, out of his excessive hatred for his son due to his foolishness, reckless mind, and disordered behavior. Thus, Egypt’s rule devolved to Shajar Al-Durr and sermons were delivered on pulpits in Egypt and Cairo to support her. And… Stories about beautiful Egypt never end!
General Bishop
Head of the Coptic Orthodox Cultural Center
